Rent certainty in private rentals
Deputy McDonald presses for rent certainty, including linking rent increases to the Consumer Price Index. The Tánaiste points to the Government’s forthcoming rental-sector strategy but gives no firm commitment on the proposal.
My question is to whomsoever feels moved to answer it.
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I will always respond to questions from Deputy McDonald.
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We usually get no answers but today everybody wants to answer. Fair play.
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We are all champing at the bit to reply.
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Yes. I wish to raise with the Tánaiste the issue of rent certainty. The housing action plan commits to the introduction of legislation on tenancy arrangements in the private rental sector and to a strategy for the private rental sector. The plan is high on promises but low on delivery, particularly on the issue of rent certainty. The Tánaiste will recall that Sinn Féin brought an initiative to the Dáil to deliver rent certainty by linking rent inflation to the Consumer Price Index and to give people some comfort - people who, as we all know, are being fleeced with average rents of €1,500 per month in Dublin, for example. When does the Government propose to legislate for rent certainty? I remind our colleagues in Fianna Fáil that the Fianna Fáil Party knocked back a proposal that would have given people rent certainty on a promise of something that has not materialised and that is not missed by people who are under pressure.
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Deputy McDonald will be aware that yesterday the Minister, Deputy Coveney, announced his very comprehensive approach to the housing crisis in this country. Pillar 4 of that plan focuses on improvements in the rental sector. The Minister is committed to developing a comprehensive strategy for the rental sector by quarter 4 of 2016. Work is beginning immediately on the strategy for the rental sector. It will contain a range of actions focused on four key areas: security, or providing greater certainty to landlords and tenants; supply, by maintaining the existing levels of rental stock; an examination of standards, which are important; and a broadening of the powers of the Residential Tenancies Board to enable it to provide its services more effectively. As I said, work is beginning immediately on developing the actions that are needed, legislative and otherwise, for the rental sector.